It is all too easy to forget how quickly our world is changing. In time, the human race may look back at the years surrounding the turn of the millennium and recognize the period in which we live alongside the renaissance, and the industrial revolution.

But what is at the center of all this upheaval? The internet, of course. A global network of computers that has torn down physical borders and completely changed the way in which many of us live our lives – in just a few short years.

But Where Does WordPress Come In?

Believe it or not, our favorite content management system is right at the center of the internet revolution. According to wordpress.com, there are over 70 million WordPress sites in existence.

To put this into perspective, estimates of the total number of websites in existence produced on any platform vary from around 300 – 400 million (it is a notoriously difficult figure to calculate). It doesn’t take much of a leap to calculate that around 18% – 23% of websites in the world run on WordPress – a monumental proportion.

Content Management For The Masses

WordPress did not create the concept of content management. Such systems have been around since before the internet was a twinkle in Tim Berners-Lee’s eye. But true innovation rarely effects the greatest change. WordPress took an existing concept, made it highly useable, and introduced it to the masses (free of charge).

What WordPress did was both beautifully simple, and highly effective. Matt Mullenweg created the foundations upon which the world’s most popular content management system could be built. And he relied upon the hard work and endeavor of thousands of people in order to make it happen. Rarely has the concept of open source development been better demonstrated.

WordPress – Allowing You To Choose Your Focus

Once upon a time, if you wanted to build a website of any note, you needed to spend an enormous amount of time on your site’s design. For those who wanted to get on with creating the most important part – the content – design was a major headache.

Whilst there is no doubting the value of good website design, WordPress gives you the choice as to what you want to do. If you want to get on with creating content, you are free to do so, with minimal work required on the design (or none at all, if you are so inclined).

You would think that such ease of use would require a sacrifice in design flexibility. But that is not the case at all. The vast majority of web developers rely upon WordPress to design their sites, and with good reason – it takes away an enormous amount of the donkey work, whilst allowing them to retain all of the power they need.

What’s Next?

It is easy to forget how young the internet is. We are only around 15 years into its mainstream exposure and acceptance – there is much more to come. It will not be long before the internet is integral to the way in which we live our lives – after all, it already is for some.

Whilst this advancement is ongoing, WordPress will continue to revolutionize web development. Its features will become more intuitive, and more user-friendly. Content management has never been easier – and it’ll only get better.

Update:  Ghost – WordPress new competitor

Creative Commons image courtesy of Lumur227